Storage Equipment for New Vertebrate Paleontology Acquisitions

俄克拉荷马州大学俄克拉荷马州自然历史博物馆（OMNH）的脊椎动物古生物学（VP）藏品构成了脊椎动物化石的主要国际资源，拥有超过61，000个标本。该系列在二叠纪脊椎动物，侏罗纪恐龙，白垩纪动物群和中新世哺乳动物中特别强大。 收藏的核心，在20世纪30年代至40年代积累，仍然在很大程度上未经策划，并陷入废弃和无法访问。1987年，该机构开始了多阶段的收藏更新计划。最初的两个阶段侧重于标本的管理、准备/修复和储存;第三个阶段是数据核实和计算机化（包括网络访问标本数据和图像），目前正在进行中。前两个阶段的成功完成导致馆藏活动和利用率的急剧增加，访问研究人员、借出贷款和出版物的急剧增加证明了这一点。2000年，OMNH开设了一个全面的新建筑，大大扩展和改善了研究，展览和教育资源。由此产生的VP计划的扩展确保了在可预见的未来大幅提高利用率的强大潜力。然而，目前的收藏使用受到可用存储柜的严格限制。 这一问题将通过以下方式解决：（1）购买额外的储存设备;（2）对这些新获得的藏品进行管理，并对藏品进行重新安排（解压）。在我们收集改进的总体计划范围内，拟议项目的时间安排与一个主要的相关举措相协调：标本库存和数据验证。最近将OMNH自然历史收藏品转移到一个单一的建筑物中，为收藏品管理带来了新的标准和关注。现有的木制托盘，持有超大的标本构成威胁（害虫侵扰），其他收藏品现在住在同一设施。我们建议以塑料托盘取代木制托盘，以解决这个问题。 随着最近新馆长和收藏支持人员的招聘，OMNH准备成为古生物学研究和教育的主要中心。副总裁收集是一个基本的资源，这个羽翼未丰的计划，并在一般的生物界。在这种环境下，对馆藏的使用需求将继续急剧增加。完成拟议的项目将允许适当的住房，合理的安排，并随时进入整个控股，从而使我们能够满足增加使用的需求。

The vertebrate paleontology (VP) collection of the Oklahoma Museum of Natural History (OMNH), University of Oklahoma, constitutes a major, international resource of vertebrate fossils, with over 61,000 specimens. The collection is particularly strong in Permian vertebrates, Jurassic dinosaurs, Cretaceous faunas, and Miocene mammals. The core of the collection, amassed during the 1930s-40s, remained largely uncurated and fell into disuse and inaccessibility. In 1987, the institution began a multi-phased program of collection renovation. Two initial phases focused on specimen curation, preparation/restoration, and storage; a third phase, data verification and computerization (including web access to specimens data and images), is in progress. Successful completion of the first two phases has led to a dramatic increase in collection activity and utilization, documented by sharp rises in visiting researchers, outgoing loans, and publications. In 2000, OMNH opened a comprehensive new building with vastly expanded and improved resources for research, exhibits, and education. The resultant expansion of the VP program assures a strong potential for substantially higher utilization in the foreseeable future. However, current collection use is tightly constrained by available storage cabinets. This problem will be addressed through (1) purchase of additional storage equipment and (2) curation of these new acquisitions and rearrangement (decompression) of the collection. Within the context of our overall plan for collection improvement, the proposed project is timed to coordinate with a major, related initiative: specimen inventory and data verification. The recent move of OMNH natural history collections into a single building has brought new standards and concerns in collection management. Existing wooden pallets that hold oversized specimens pose a threat (pest infestation) to other collections now housed in the same facility. We propose to address this issue through replacement of wooden with archival plastic pallets. With the recent hiring of new curators and collection support staff, OMNH is poised to emerge as a major center for research and education in paleobiology. The VP collection is a fundamental resource to this fledgling program and to the biological community in general. Given this environment, demand for use of the collection will continue to increase sharply. Completion of the proposed project will permit proper housing, logical arrangement, and ready access to the entire holdings, thereby permitting us to meet the demands of increased utilization.